Dr Jacqueline Baker

Harris, C. & Baker, J.D. 2008, 'Nursing management: Stroke (Chapter 58)' in Brown, D; Edwards, H (eds), Medical-surgical nursing: Assessment and management of clinical problems (7th Ed), Elsevier, Sydney, pp. 1604-1627.

Stewart, A.M., Baker, J.D. & Elliott, D. 2012, 'The psychological wellbeing of patients following excision of a pilonidal sinus', Journal of Wound Care, vol. 21, no. 12, pp. 595-600.
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Objective: To explore the effects of a pilonidal sinus wound on patientsÔ++ psychological wellbeing.

Stewart, A., Baker, J.D. & Elliott, D. 2011, 'The effects of a sacrococcygeal pilonidal sinus wound on activities of living: thematic analysis of participant interviews', Journal Of Clinical Nursing, vol. 20, no. 21-22, pp. 3174-3182.
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Aims and objective. To describe the effects sacrococcygeal pilonidal sinus wounds had on participants+ activities of living. Background. A sacrococcygeal pilonidal sinus commonly occurs in healthy young people and is associated with considerable morbidity and discomfort. Surgery is frequently required, and patients are often discharged home with large open wounds. Most research has addressed the technical aspects of surgery and treatment. Design. An interpretive descriptive approach guided by The Model of Living framework. Methods. Purposive sampling was used to recruit four women and seven men, age range 17+39 years, from a metropolitan hospital in NSW, Australia. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews that were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. Results. Three themes and eight subthemes emerged from the analysis: (1) `Adaption+ included subthemes, learning to live with the wound, difficulty living with the wound and living life despite the wound; (2) `Perception+ embraced subthemes, embarrassment, lack of understanding and changed body image; and (3) `Control+ included subthemes, loss of control and gaining control. Participants whose pain was not managed, who were unprepared for the postoperative recovery at home or experienced delayed wound healing had most difficulty with activities of living. Conclusions. This research gives some insight into the pilonidal wound experience from the person+s perspective. All activities of living were affected by the pilonidal sinus wound. The effect was variable and influenced by pain, embarrassment and a general lack of understanding about the condition and the care of the wound. The specific wound location was an underlying factor causing problems for participants.

Holloway, K., Baker, J.D. & Lumby, J. 2009, 'Specialist nursing framework for New Zealand: A missing link in workforce planning', Policy Politics & Nursing Practice OnlineFirst, vol. 11, pp. 1-7.
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The current global nursing shortage challenges the provision of a well qualified and sustainable health workforce to meet future population health needs. An identified area of concern for New Zealand reaching health policy targets in chronic conditions management and primary health care is an adequate specialist nurse workforce supply. This article explores the New Zealand context underpinning this concern and contends that effective workforce planning would be supported by the development of a single unified framework for specialist nursing practice in New Zealand. A consistent national framework has the potential to support accurate data collection and enable service providers to identify and plan transparent and transferable pathways for specialist nursing service provision and development. Advanced practice nursing frameworks assist in increasing productivity through building an evidence base about advanced practice, enhancing consistency and equity of expertise; supporting a reduction in role duplication; and enabling succession planning and sustainability.

Tranter, S.A., Donoghue, J.M. & Baker, J.D. 2009, 'Nursing the machine: An ethnography of a hospital haemodialysis unit', Journal of Nephrology & Renal Transplantation, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 28-41.
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This paper reports the process and findings of an ethnography conducted in a hospital haemodialysis unit. The aims of the study were to acquire a comprehensive understanding of how nursing care was conducted in a hospital haemodialysis unit and to identify structural and cultural enablers or barriers to the provision of patient centred care. Five themes were identified. +Doing more with less+, +who gets a machine?+, +technological creep+, "dialysis centred care+ and +the bottom line+. These themes were seen to impinge on the nurses+ ability to provide patient centred care. The study confirmed that the nursing culture in the hospital haemodialysis unit did not enable nurses the opportunity to recognise the patients+ suffering and discomfort and failed to provide any interventions to ameliorate it. The focus for nurses needed to shift from care associated with the dialysis procedure to a more holistic patient centred model.

Milton-Wildey, K.K. & Baker, J.D. 2006, 'International postgraduate nursing students: Implications for studying and working within a different culture', Contemporary Nurse, vol. 22, pp. 7-16.
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Boney, J. & Baker, J.D. 1997, 'Strategies for teaching clinical decision-making', Nurse Education Today, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 16-21.
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Nursing today requires clinicians who are autonomous decision-makers, It is therefore essential that nurses develop effective problem-solving and decisionmaking skills. The authors have found, both in practice and in searches of the literature, that: registered nurses (RNs) appear to lack the skills necessary to make effective decisions, RNs demonstrate a propensity to stereotype, to be influenced by cultural bias and a desire to make rapid decisions. The literature abounds with research into and discussion on clinical decision-making, If: fails however, to specify the skills required and to delineate the educational strategies that may be employed to improve the process of making decisions. An educational program developed by the authors indicates that it is possible to facilitate the development of cognitive skills in clinical decision-making, This paper explores views expressed in the literature, as well as examining the skills developed within the program that have been found to enhance decision-malting, Finally, educational strategies designed to improve these skills are discussed.

Baker, J.D., Ferguson, C., Matiuk, S. 2012, 'The comfy GCS: Does the shoe fit?', Australasian Neuroscience Nurses Association Annual Scientific Meeting, Mercure, Hobart, Tasmania, October 2012.
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The Glasgow Coma Scale, developed by Teasdale and Jennett in 1974, is the most widespread tool used to measure consciousness in clinical practice. The tool was developed to provide consistent terminology to convey the results of assessment of conscious level in acute head injury patients. Nevertheless, it would appear that the GCS has morphed into assessment of non acute head injury patient conscious level. Consequently, the GCS is unable to identify or record the more subtly changes that might be seen in such patients. Assessing clinical changes in patients with neurological disturbance that demonstrate subtle changes in consciousness can be problematic. For example, patients can be confused but be orientated to time, place and person. In this paper, the GCS will be reviewed in terms of its relevancy to neuroscience practice, as well as how clinicians use the tool in practice. In addition, reliable and valid tools that assess consciousness and confusion in the neuroscience patient population will be discussed. Each tool will be evaluated assessment accuracy. Advancements and novel methods for neurological assessment are also considered.